SteelMint | Morning Brief

Iron ore & pellets

• SteelMint’s weekly low-grade Indian iron ore fines (Fe 57%) export index fell marginally by $1 to $88/t FOB east coast India. Discounts for low-grade ore have widened to 30-35%. Under the production curbs and low emissions, demand for high-grade raw material from Chinese steel mills remained robust as per the guidelines given by local authorities.
• Karnataka registered a decrease in yearly sales e-auction volumes in FY ’21. Total iron ore allotted quantity in FY ’21 was recorded at 29.2 mn t compared to 30.04 mn t in FY ’20.

Coal

• Limited trades amid COVID fear weighed on RB2 portside prices this week. While, two weeks back, South African RB2 (5500 NAR) coal portside prices had touched a high of INR 7,100/t ex-Gangavaram, the same came down to INR 6,600/t this week. Prices are exclusive of cess and GST.

Scrap & Metallics

• SteelMint’s domestic steel scrap index slightly increased to INR 37,400/t DAP Mandi Gobindgarh. Buyers raised bids for domestic scrap purchase on supported price movements in semi-finished steel.
• South Korean mill – Hyundai Steel increased its bid price for Japanese scrap by up to JPY 4,000/t, sources have confirmed to SteelMint. The bid for H2 has now been set at JPY 43,000/t ($395) FoB level, up by JPY 3,000/t ($27) against the last bid which was on 26th Mar’21.

Semi-finished steel

• SteelMint’s daily billet index was assessed at INR 42,500/t (+1,600) exw Raipur on 15th Apr ’21, 18:00 IST. Trade sources highlighted that billet demand improved from outside buyers i.e. Maharashtra on account of lower melting productions in the state. Also, with sharp hike in sponge iron offers, the re-rollers are taking positions of stocking raw materials.
• Iranian billet export prices surged further in recent deals concluded for China and SE Asia. Two leading steel exporters of Iran were reported having sold 50,000 t billets through a tender. With these deals, the Iranian billet export prices rose by $10, w-o-w to reach new highs.
• An Indian steel mill recently concluded an export tender for 16,000 t prime mild steel non-alloy concast slab for end-May shipment. The deal was concluded at $655-660/t FoB, sources reported to SteelMint.
• A leading steel mill from Raipur (central India) concluded a billet (130*130mm) export deal for May shipment at $635/t CFR Manila,

Finished steel

• Indian HRC and CRC trade prices were recorded at an all-time high post announcement of the second price hike by major steel mills for Apr deliveries. SteelMint’s benchmark prices for 2.5mm thickness HRC stands at INR 63,000-64,000/t and CRC at INR 74,000-76,000/t (exy-Mumbai).
• Vietnam’s Hoa Phat raised their monthly HRC offer sharply by $135/t for Jun ’21 delivery.

Ferro Alloys

• Indian ferrosilicon prices remained stable w-o-w on stable supply-demand dynamics. In the meanwhile, demand from domestic steel mills remains strong due to the increasing prices of semi-finished steel products. Currently, prices in Bhutan are at INR 100,000/t and in Guwahati at INR 101,000/t ex-works.
• Brazilian Manganese Ore exports surged by 25.4% to 162,487t in Mar ’21 mainly due to increased exports to India.